Terry Foster: Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter Also.

By Terry Foster
@TerryFoster971

It's OK to be called Uncle Tom.

It happens in the United States of America when you are black and you don't always trumpet the black view. It is part of the business when you are black and speak your own mind.

However, I will stand up and defend myself to the end of Earth this time. I was called a Tom on our ticket text and during some tweets because I was appalled by the deaths of five Dallas police officers at the hand of a sniper that destroyed the good will of a community and the Dallas police department.

People rightly protested the deaths of two black citizens at the hands of police. I will not defend what happened. Being pulled over for a broke tail light is not a death sentence. The black man who was shot six times while a gun laid in his pocket should be alive today.

So should the five police officers in Dallas who were trying to keep the peace during an otherwise peaceful rally. If you are not appalled by all seven deaths we have a problem. If you do not understand why black people are upset by the brutal killings of its citizens we are not on the same page.

If you do not understand why a nation mourns the deaths, we are not on the same page.

I am angry that too many black folks are killed at the hands of police. I am angry that a vigilante decided to seek revenge. This assassin targeted white police officers. He was as specific as he could be.

I did not like what he stood for.

Black lives matter. Blue lives matter also.

However my frustration is with some white people also. They refuse to admit that the police were even one percent at fault. They cite that blacks have a higher crime rate, are pulled over at a higher rate and live in poverty. Once again, what the two gentlemen did this week were not punishable by death.

President Obama said our crisis is not as deep as some make it out to be. I disagree.

This should not be a war. We need to come together as a nation and as a people. We talk about love but we are unwilling to love and it is a shame. Until we all accept blame the tragedies we mourn will happen again and again and again.

(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)